So, I'm not really planning on doing a lip balm soon, but I had a thought that is sticking in my brain. You see, I had enough trouble just pouring the melted lotion bar and deodorant into 2.2 fl oz twist tubes from the Crock Pot without spilling it. How on earth would you get it into a teeny tiny lip balm tube? Maybe you'd use a very small funnel, but then how would you keep that from getting clogged up with wax? This may drive me crazy for the rest of the day.
Pouring Things Like Lip Balm
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I used a measuring cup with a pour spout to pour the lip balm into the tubes. I did not do large numbers of tubes at one, time, so it didn't cool too fast to pour. However, when I set it down after filling the tubes, it did, but it's easy to warm up in the microwave oven to pouring consistency again. A tiny funnel could work, too and also can go in the microwave (in a small bowl) to soften any cooled balm.
Beakers would well for pouring lip balm if you do not have one of the lip filling trays. If I am going to pour a few I hold my tubes together with a rubber band and set them on an hdpe cutting board in case I spill some. I think around ten tubes will hold with a rubber band but have not poured lip balms in a long time.
A
amd
I do like earlene, I make mine in a pyrex measuring cup and use the microwave to melt things. The largest batch I've ever done is 50 tubes. Most of my batches are 12 tubes so I have plenty of time to pour before it even thinks about setting up.
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
Lip balm tray.
https://www.bulkapothecary.com/lip-...MI7vPenInV4QIVFVYNCh0viwYMEAQYASABEgJ0X_D_BwE
Hobby Lobby has a small one:
https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-H...MI7vPenInV4QIVFVYNCh0viwYMEAQYBCABEgJkgvD_BwE
I heat my balm in a glass measuring cup. I put the tray on a sheet of wax paper. I sorta half-way aim for the holes. When the tubes are full, put it in the fridge or freezer. When it's a bit solid, scrape off the top and put it back in your measuring cup. Then let it solidify the rest of the way. Some people use a toothpick or a string to make a "bridge" for the balm to follow from the spout to the tube - I am not that gifted, lol.
I like to use the wax paper b/c when I spill (not off), I can easily scrape it off the paper and put it back in the measuring cup.
https://www.bulkapothecary.com/lip-...MI7vPenInV4QIVFVYNCh0viwYMEAQYASABEgJ0X_D_BwE
Hobby Lobby has a small one:
https://www.hobbylobby.com/Crafts-H...MI7vPenInV4QIVFVYNCh0viwYMEAQYBCABEgJkgvD_BwE
I heat my balm in a glass measuring cup. I put the tray on a sheet of wax paper. I sorta half-way aim for the holes. When the tubes are full, put it in the fridge or freezer. When it's a bit solid, scrape off the top and put it back in your measuring cup. Then let it solidify the rest of the way. Some people use a toothpick or a string to make a "bridge" for the balm to follow from the spout to the tube - I am not that gifted, lol.
I like to use the wax paper b/c when I spill (not off), I can easily scrape it off the paper and put it back in the measuring cup.
atiz
Well-Known Member
I also just pour from a beaker or measuring cup. I think I tried to use a syringe kind of thing once, but it wasn't worth the hassle really.
Thanks all. I guess I'm not the first one to think of this problem.
Seems like a combination of these things would work the best. The lip balm tray looks particularly useful for this.
Seems like a combination of these things would work the best. The lip balm tray looks particularly useful for this.
steffamarie
Well-Known Member
I made my lip balm base in a really small container with a very precise pour spout and it worked nicely. I only poured about 6 and I did have to reheat it in between because it was such a small quantity.
I make small batches of lip balm, sometimes making just a single tube at a time. I don't have a microwave, so I came up with my own little double boiler system that utilizes silicone egg poaching cups that float on top of simmering water in a pot, which allow me to make and pour my small batches of lip balm very easily with no spillage (once I got my pouring angle right, that is). I spell out how I use my little system here: https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/lip-balm-process.61820/#post-622779
IrishLass
IrishLass
I melt mine using a double boiler and then pour some into a glass pyrex measuring cup. If you heat the pyrex in the microwave briefly before adding the solution, you'll have less initial hardening.
I made my first batch of lip balm the other day. I poured the hot balm into the tubes using a little pottery cream pitcher that I bought in Stockholm many years ago. It has a delicate spout that pours cleanly and the pottery holds the heat so the balm doesn’t solidify while pouring. I had enough to almost fill 11 tubes, I thought. But when it cooled, the lip balm in every tube was concave rather than flat across the top. There is also a little circular hole/channel going down through the balm in every tube. I guess the mixture contracted as it cooled? For those of you who have experience filling tubes - is there a way to avoid this, or is it just a matter of topping off the tubes after they cool?
This is fairly common - don't top off the tubes because the top layer won't bind with the lower layer and eventually the two will separate while being used. The easy fix for this is: as the mix starts to cool in the tubes and settle, run your heat gun (or perhaps a hair dryer if you don't have a heat gun) on low over the tops so that the mixture remelts and then add more lip balm to them. Another way to do it is add more mixture to each tube and then run the heat gun over the top, melting everything once more. If you wait until the mixture is really cooled, you run the risk of melting the tubes as you will need more heat to melt the balm so don't wait too long.
Thank you @SoaperForLife.
7 lip balm tubes are held by a rubber band. If making more, I just made another bundle.
I used freezer paper under my tubes.
I used Pyrex measuring cup that then gets set on a heating pad on high.
I used a hair dryer set on high heat, low fan. But I found if you put a tiny bit of lard in the mix, it stuck together without need for reheating. Also, cooling at room temperature helped avoid the hole down the center.
See, we all have similar solutions to the same issues. I think that is so cool!
I used freezer paper under my tubes.
I used Pyrex measuring cup that then gets set on a heating pad on high.
I used a hair dryer set on high heat, low fan. But I found if you put a tiny bit of lard in the mix, it stuck together without need for reheating. Also, cooling at room temperature helped avoid the hole down the center.
See, we all have similar solutions to the same issues. I think that is so cool!
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
I think I get my lip balm hotter than you. You don't want it to slowly solidify in the tubes - you want it to stay mostly liquid until you put it in the fridge/freezer to quickly cool. I fill mine, then go back and gentle top off. You want it to have a slightly domed top, like 1 water drop.
Thanks @Susie! I never would have thought of putting lard in lip balm, but I will try it. My dad and I both have major problems with chapped lips. I’m going to visit him next week, so I will give it a try and bring him some to test. He’s already been a good sport testing my soaps!
thanks @dixiedragon! I appreciate the tip. Can you explain to me why you want it to cool quickly?
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
When butters - I think shea is the worst - cool slowly, the stearic acid starts to solidify and cool faster than the other components of the shea butter, making it grainy.
https://bettersheabutter.com/grainy-shea-butter-heres-fix/
I've tempered shea butter but it didn't help me - not sure if I did it right. My preference is to melt the lip balm thoroughly - make sure there are no non-melted crumbs or bits. Since I use beeswax in my lip balm (you probably do to), that means the shea is very much melted by the time the beeswax is. You also want it to be hot because the beeswax will start to cool and solidify on the side of the container, which means you have less mixed in your lip balm. If you are starting to get semi-solid balm on the inside of your container when you pour, heat it up again.
I do things just like Dixie, because I use butters in my balm formulas and also candelilla wax, which is much harder than beeswax.
I heat till thoroughly melted, and then I heat an extra 7 to 10 minutes beyond that, which is time enough to take care of any tiny, un-melted bits anywhere. Then I pour 3/4th's of the way from the top of my tubes and stick the tubes immediately into the freezer. The balm contracts/sinks down as it cools, but I don't let mine cool all the way until completely solid- only until it's Vaseline-like instead. Then I remove and top off.
With practice, I've become very adept at pouring my top-off to a nice dome shape.
From there, they go into the fridge to completely solidify.
I do not use a heat gun and my balms do not separate. Well, let me clarify that.....my balms do not separate just as long as I don't keep them in the freezer until solid before topping off. There's a sweet spot time to take them out so that the top-off will not separate. That sweet spot for me is when it's reached a Vaseline stage.
IrishLass
I heat till thoroughly melted, and then I heat an extra 7 to 10 minutes beyond that, which is time enough to take care of any tiny, un-melted bits anywhere. Then I pour 3/4th's of the way from the top of my tubes and stick the tubes immediately into the freezer. The balm contracts/sinks down as it cools, but I don't let mine cool all the way until completely solid- only until it's Vaseline-like instead. Then I remove and top off.
With practice, I've become very adept at pouring my top-off to a nice dome shape.
From there, they go into the fridge to completely solidify.
I do not use a heat gun and my balms do not separate. Well, let me clarify that.....my balms do not separate just as long as I don't keep them in the freezer until solid before topping off. There's a sweet spot time to take them out so that the top-off will not separate. That sweet spot for me is when it's reached a Vaseline stage.
IrishLass
dixiedragon
Well-Known Member
If you want to top off and it's a bit more solid, use a toothpick to stir it up, so it's broken up vs smooth, then pour your hot liquid balm.
